DedicationI dedicate this book to my mom, Nancy. I love you. Thank you for inspiring my passion for quilting.More important, thank you for the love and wisdom you have faithfully poured into my life from thebeginning. God has given me a tremendous gift in you, Mom. I also dedicate this book to my HeavenlyFather God, in whom I have found inexpressible joy and true fulfillment in life.

AcknowledgmentsSpecial thanks to Nancy Pease, Nancy Johnson, Marylin Harlow-Maynard, Cathy McKillip, and JohnAdams (aka Quilt Dad).

INTRODUCTIONI never understood how my mother could stand to be at her sewing machine for hours at a timecontentedly stitching the afternoon away. How could she sit still for that long? Not to mention, howcould she actually enjoy sewing? My boundless energy as a child drove me outside to play the dayaway—anything but sit still! In February 2002 when I was sixteen, my newly single mother of fourdecided to expand her longarm machine quilting business to include a quilt shop. By that time, I hadgrown up just a wee bit and could actually sit still for longer than a minute. After working in ournewly opened shop for a few months, I had completed my first quilt and realized I thoroughly enjoyedquilting. My mother wasn’t crazy for her love of sewing after all!

The longer we ran the quilt shop, the more addicted to quilting I became. My horizons were everexpanding. Observing my mother’s skillful talent and adventurous creativity inspired me to try myhand on her longarm quilting machine. Soon I found myself standing in front of her machine, poisedand ready to start free-motion quilting my first quilt. My stomach churned with mixed emotions ofextreme delight and utter fear as my finger hovered over the start button, but by the time I reached theend of my twin-size quilt, I felt empowered. A few years later at age nineteen, I began quilting forcustomers alongside my mother. For the entire first year of my quilting career, I stitched nothing butone simple design for basic customer orders, leaving all the challenging orders to my mother’sexpertise. Boredom eventually overwhelmed my fear of stitching more complex designs. Feathersbecame one of my favorites to sew, and once I had them mastered, I was no longer afraid to try newideas.

Today I run a thriving longarm business called Bethany Quilts. My mom and I still work together. Shehas been my quilting coach and best friend all along, and I cannot continue writing without saying,“Thanks, Mom.” She and I make a great team and often brainstorm together about new designs forchallenging customer orders.

It is my goal that no matter which type of machine you quilt on—longarm or domestic—you will catchthe vision. I hope you will walk away from this book equipped and inspired to see the myriad ofdesigns that are right in front of you waiting to be discovered. I know that the more you work at it anddiligently sketch your ideas, the easier it will become. As you sketch one idea, it will lead to anotheridea, then another and another. You will soon find yourself tumbling headlong into your own quiltedworld.

Everywhere I look I am inspired.

I love my job because the creative possibilities are endless. Everywhere I look I am inspired.Whether it’s the pinecone on the ground, the trim work on a building, a summer flower, ferns by thecreek, the weird-looking mushroom in the backyard, the pattern on my friend’s shirt, the illustrationsin a children’s book, random stickers at the craft store, or the symbol on the outside of a cardboardbox—inspirations for quilt designs are everywhere. Taking pictures of the oddest things is a normalhabit for me. I occasionally find myself fishing a cardboard box out of a dumpster, just to take apicture of a logo on it that I find interesting or creative. Pausing in the earring section of a departmentstore to take pictures of dangly earrings is something I am often compelled to do. Regardless ofpeople’s puzzled looks, I cannot pass up such a fantastic design inspiration just dangling there in frontof me!

One new design inspires another new design in a continuous domino effect. For example, I got waylaid one day with a simple swirldesign and ended up creating two different variations of the original (Figures 1, 2, and 3).

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Often, multiple designs come from a single inspiration or a combination of similar inspirational sources.

Figure 4

Figure 5

Look at the lines in the design inspiration around you. I have stitched flames for years. Then I discovered that stitching them sidewaysand adding swirls creates a whole new look.

Figure 6

Figure 7

Horizontal and vertical design lines are everywhere. After I had perfected my water-inspired design (Figure 8), I created a swirlsvariation of it (Figure 9). Then I decided to play around with it again by making the lines wavy and squaring the ends (Figure 10).

Figure 8

Figure 9

Figure 10

SECTION1

THE ESSENTIALS:FREEHAND BACKGROUND FILLERSFiller designs are the foundational building blocks for machine quilting and provide an excellentbackdrop to set off more complex designs, such as feathers. Not only are they a starting place forbeginner quilters, but they also become a resourceful stash of complementary designs to be revisitedagain and again. I find I am always on the lookout for new filler designs.

Patterns are available to print from http://tinyurl.com/10870-patterns.

SECTION2

DOODLE AWAY:CONTINUOUS-LINE DESIGNSWherever I go, I end up doodling! Corners of napkins, the cover of my notebook, pamphlets, churchbulletins, notepads, and scraps of paper are covered in doodles. Wherever I turn, I see quiltingdesigns. It might be that I am inspired by the designs etched in jewelry, the paisley pattern on agarment, the tile pattern on the hotel lobby floor, the unusual plant in a random garden, a stone wall,or the scroll pattern on the column of a building. My repertoire is continually expanding with freshlycreated designs.

Patterns are available to print from http://tinyurl.com/10870-patterns.

SECTION3

SHOWSTOPPERS:UNUSUAL, FANCY CONTINUOUS-LINE DESIGNSThe result of consistent practice in machine quilting is confidence. Confidence leads to boldexploration. In Sections 1 and 2 we saw the quilter’s journey progress from basics to morespontaneous creativity. In this section, the complex designs are ready to be tackled! Don’t bediscouraged if your feathers and vines aren’t perfect the first few times! Practice sketching thesedesigns several times before stitching them. This not only allows you to discern the best way to stitchthe design, but also allows you to memorize the stitching motions, so the design becomes secondnature.

These designs may look complex, but don’t let them fool you. Upon dissecting them, you will see thatmost of them are a combination of basic shapes. Take a feather, for example; it is composed of aspine and individual tear-shaped plumes. It is not difficult to make the spine or the plumesthemselves. The challenge is stitching them together in a flowing, even motion. However, this can bemastered with consistent practice. Do not be afraid to take the leap and go skydiving into a wholenew world of designs!

Patterns are available to print from http://tinyurl.com/10870-patterns.

The following block designs were so exciting to create!

A complex look was accomplished by mixing and matching various simple curved and straight lines.Some of these designs include swirls and leaves. Others have no swirls but have leaves and petals.During the creative process, the slightest change or variation in one design can create a whole newdesign. With just a few simple components, a diverse array of design combinations can be formed.The best part of making these was the continual, accidental creation of new designs.

SECTION4

NATURE’S PATTERNS:FEATHERS, FERNS, VINES, AND LEAVESNature is an infinite source of inspiration for me. The variety of textures, designs, and shapes in mybackyard is incredible. I could spend days just coming up with designs from different kinds of leaves,due to their diverse shapes and edges. As you can see, the resulting designs are rather organic. Theyare also a little easier to stitch than some of the showstopper designs in Section 3 (pages 45–75).This is due to their spontaneous and flowing structure. There’s far less planning with these designscompared to the showstopper ones. So, relax and kick back as you casually ramble and rove throughnature.

Patterns are available to print from http://tinyurl.com/10870-patterns.

SECTION5

DYNAMIC FOCAL POINTS:MEDALLIONS AND BORDERSBorders often leave the quilter feeling intimidated and unsure about how to quilt them. Blank or plainareas of the quilt—such as set-in triangles, centers of blocks, odd border designs, or randomlypositioned quilt blocks—can also throw the quilter into a creative paralysis. This section provides aselection of unique designs that will be an excellent fit for your borders or areas where a medallion isthe perfect choice.

Patterns are available to print from http://tinyurl.com/10870-patterns.

Example of filler for diamonds

SECTION6

MIX IT UP:DESIGN COMBINATIONSOnce you have mastered a few of the designs from Sections 1–5, you can begin mixing and matchingthem. The look and overall feel of your quilt will dictate what kind of design combinations youshould use. If the quilt is traditional, perhaps some of the fancy feathers and ribbon designs fromSection 3 (pages 45–75) would be appropriate. However, if the quilt is modern and funky, it may callfor some of the more wacky designs found in Section 2 (pages 19–44). My combinations are meant tobe used as well as to inspire you to try your hand at creating all new combinations by yourself!

Patterns are available to print from http://tinyurl.com/10870-patterns.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Bethany Pease is a professional longarm quilter located in Raleigh, North Carolina. She offers a widevariety of her own unique quilting designs. Customers send her quilts from all over North Carolina,Maryland, Virginia, California, Washington, and even Switzerland. BethanyQuilts.com is Bethany’swebsite, where she frequently shares with her readers her latest work and talks about her variousquilting experiences. She is constantly inspired by the world around her to come up with a seeminglyendless variety of new quilting designs. Bethany has enjoyed the opportunity to speak at quilt guildsand other venues, demonstrating the creative process she uses to come up with new designs.

Bethany has always had a creative bent since early childhood and has expressed herself throughvarious art forms such as drawing. At age nineteen, she discovered her love for longarm quilting,when her mother trained her how to use the machine to help with the family business. In addition tohelping run the longarm quilting business, Bethany’s love for quilting also grew from working

alongside her mother, Nancy, and twin sisters, Candace and Caitlyn, at their family-owned quilt shop.Bethany put herself through college on income from longarm quilting. She is excited to see what thefuture holds for her longarm-quilting career.

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Text copyright © 2011 by Bethany Pease

Photography and Artwork copyright © 2011 by C&T Publishing, Inc.

Publisher: Amy Marson

Creative Director: Gailen Runge

Acquisitions Editor: Susanne Woods

Editor: Liz Aneloski

Technical Editor: Helen Frost

Cover/Book Designer: Kristy Zacharias

Production Coordinator: Jessica Jenkins

Production Editor: Alice Mace Nakanishi

Illustrator: Bethany Pease

Photography by Christina Carty-Francis and Diane Pedersen of C&T Publishing, Inc., unless otherwise noted

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